HP Compaq Presario DV6000: How would you handle this?

Back in May 2007 my wife and I bought our daughter an HP Compaq Presario DV6000 laptop for college. Yes, I am well aware that Compaq is a basic build but for the past three years: a) it has and does everything she needs it to, b) it has been problem free including the Vista Home Premium OS it runs, c) and continues to function well despite the many places she has to take it on travel, etc.

The only glith is that since January she has not been able to access wirelessly but can do so via ethernet cable. Long story short the Wireless LED is constantly amber indicating the issue lies with the mini lan card.I have done the following on my own and with HP :

1. Literally did 10 diffrent approaches as per their "Solve Setup and Internet Connection Issues on a Wireless Network with Vista" but nothing worked. The system could not find the card.

2. I then contacted Tech Support and did the following as per their directions:
a. Reseated the wireless LAN card.
b. Updated the latest wireless drivers.
c. Flashed to the latest BIOS.

* So I wrote back and here is what they had to say:

Thank you for writing back to HP Total Care.
As the issue persists, even after removing and reseating the wireless card, then the issue is with hardware malfunction of the system board or wireless card. As the issue is related to hardware of the notebook it requires onsite diagnosis.

I have checked the database and regret to inform you that your notebook warranty has expired. I knew this already

Usually this repair would cost $398+ service tax. HP has offered a discounted price for cost $259 (both sided shipping + servicing) + Service tax.

Service center will give you a call once they diagnose if a part needs to be replaced and about exact cost for repair. Please let us know the best number and time to give you a call back, so that we can service your notebook at the earliest.

* I could get a new card for $32.00 off of Amazon (yes, it is a genuine part) and see if that works but I am not sending it back to HP. I don't have the $ to do it.

* Any outside shot me testing the system board and if so how?

Thoughts and advice most welcomed. The bottom line at this point: If I can't fix it via new wireless card then she'll have to connect via ethernet cable.

The computer is three years old. Components begin failing frequently on Compaq Presarios of that age... but replacement components should bring it up to date... At three years of age, the failure rate of wireless parts on laptops exceed 15 percent... as Matthew and Looking Around have stated, replacement parts are inexpensive and a good solution... provided you have enough memory, and the hard drive is not beginning to fail.

Thanks guys. I was already thinking about what Matthew suggests because as he correctly points out not a lot cash will be spent if I try a good used wireless Lan minicard.

@ Lookinaround - good idea; how did I miss that considering it is what I am doing with my 7 year old Toshiba Tecra S1!

@ raybay - If I can keep this running for one more year I'll feel I've gotten my money's worth out of it and then some. Thanks for the info on failure rates; that is something to keep in mind for the future and I do plan on a harddrive diagnostics real soon.

Considering that the cost of HP's offering I'll wind up spending just about what I paid for it which would be a major waste of cash and time.

Okay here is Chapter 1: Harddrive is in good shape. SMART enabled and NOT tripped. Passed both Short and Long Tests twice.

Chapter 2: Put new (used) Mini Lan card in that was certified working. Same amber light. Now there is a possibility this "new" card is not working but HP did say the issue might with the systems board.

I can do three things:

a. Try one more mini lan card that is brand new and factory certified.

b. Get a USB wireless adapter.

c. Or get a Express Card 54 (the laptop has this slot) WiFi card. The thing is what are reliable cards and how good do they work? And where do you buy them? Newegg doesn't have a lot to choose from.

*** Question: Will a USB Wireless adapter/Express 54 WiFi Card even work if the issue lies with the system board or will these bypass this issue?

USB adapter will 1) slide into a physically different slot/plug and 2) connect to a different bus (USB vs. PCI) so is likely (but, of course, not guaranteed) that a wireless USB device will work even tho the PCI device won't. (an fyi: i did the same for my niece's Inspiron laptop when the ethernet port stopped working. i just bought a cheap USB LAN adapter to solve the problem)